DIY: Detachable Peter Pan Collars

Hello my lovelies, 


I've been longing to do this DIY post, but since I've been very busy with school work lately, I couldn't find time. Now that I have Easter holidays, I managed to find some time on my hands and decided to create some detachable peter pan collars. They are very easy to make, no sewing required ( it's up to you) and very stylish at the same time. So let's get started! 


You will need: 

• Paper
• Pencil/marker
• Scissors
• Headed Needle 
• Glue Gun/ fabric Glue 
• Felt Fabric (colour of your choice) 
• Decorative Fabric ( I used lace & floral fabric) 
• Decorative Accessories ( studs, pearls, gems , anything that you like!) 
• Ribbon or Chain 
• Thread and Needle 

So first things first, you must start thinking which pattern you would like your Peter Pan collar to look like. I created 3 different patterns, so it would be easy for you to decide. So first grab the paper and fold it in half. Start drawing half of the collar starting from the folded part. I drew the collars free handed, but if you'd like there are many patterns on-line which might help you or you can click on the picture below, print it out and trace your preferable pattern. 

So once you're done, start by cutting from the folded part of the paper, all the way around the pattern 

And your result should end up looking like this : 

So once you've cut all your patterns, grab the felt fabric and your decorative fabric. The decorative fabric is optional, but I decided that I wanted a lace fabric. So first lay the felt fabric, then the lace and the pattern of your choice on top of each other, and pin them down with the headed needle. Cut the fabrics around the pattern and you will end up with two fabrics looking like your drawn pattern. The next step is to glue the lace on top of the fabric and leave it to dry, it only takes a few seconds. This part is optional but I suggest that you cut around the lace lining from the remainder of the fabric that you have left and glue it on top of the edge of the collar to hide any imperfections. Then grab the needle and thread, and start sewing the ribbon at the top corners on the backside of the collars. Once you think it is secure enough, tie a knot close to the corner of the collar to make sure it is extra secure. 

So your collar is pretty much done, but obviously I wanted to jazz it up with a little accessories. Let me show you the 4 different styles: 

As you can see, I chose white felt fabric, and white lace on top. Notice the lining of the lace on the top edge of the collars hides any imperfections and looks much neater. Then I decided to glue some threaded pearls, on the edge of the collar. You can buy them at any local craft store, they are very easy to find. And there you have it collar no 1 complete! 

This is very similar to the previous one, but instead of using lace I decided to use a floral fabric instead. I think it came out looking better than I expected it and the touch of pearls gave it a very vintage look. 

This is the second pattern shown in the above picture. I decided to use peach felt fabric and just glued the threaded pearls all across it. This was the easiest collar to make, and I suggest using threaded pearls instead of gluing a separate pearl one by one. If so it would take ages to finish, and for me it only took 10 minutes to glue them all in place. I love the way it turned out, it looks like a statement necklace and it screams spring!

The last collar has to be one of my favourites. It may not be called a peter pan collar, since it leans more towards the classic structured collars. So if you do not feel like cutting off a collar from your old shirts, go ahead and draw it  out yourself. Here I used white felt, black lace and gold studs around the pointed edges. I think it came out looking very edgy and would look great for a night out! 

So there you have it! DIY Peter Pan Collars, very easy and affordable way to make your collars at home!

Create different looks for different occasions, one for a casual look, one for a vintage/girly look, one for a party look, and another for a sophisticated look. 

I hoped you liked this post and be sure to try it out and let me know how it turned out! 

Stay Chic 

xxx

Toning down Animal Prints

We all know that during this time of the year, any type or form of floral, aztec or tribal print has to always appear in our wardrobe. Animal prints were a hit last winter, especially leopard print. I, for one, used to HATE animal print. I used to find them very tacky and I just did not like the way people wore such a very bold print. But as it became on trend, I started to get into it more. I learned how to make leopard print not look tacky, and with that help I ended up loving animal prints. And when I say animal print, I mean cheetah, leopard or snake, I don't mean zebra. I'm not into zebra-yet. As I was saying, I ended up finding animal print pieces, mostly accessories or shoes, to give an outfit some character. For example a very plain outfit in very neutral colours, paired up with leopard shoes or even a leopard scarf. I was very into this trend last winter. However, since spring is considered as the season to bring out very vibrant and girly patterns, we tend to ditch the bold, dark toned animal prints. So what I'm trying to point out is that you can actually still transition your favourite animal print pieces to your spring wardrobe. The only difference being is that you have to just slightly tone down the rest of your outfit and to avoid using warm, bold colours. In fact, high end designers demonstrated animal prints for their spring/summer 2012 collection.

 Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2012 Campaign- Subtle way of adding animal prints and combination of leopard and snake skin print. The sheerness of the printed fabric gives it a delicate and summery feel. 

Michael Kors-Safari themed collection inspired by his latest visit to South Africa. Infusion of tribal, animal prints, and tie-dye patterns. 

As for my way of styling animal print patterns for spring, I created 3 polyvore sets to demonstrate 3 different looks that might attract your taste. 

Snake Print and hint of neon Yellow by katia featuring banana republic jewelry

This is by far my favourite outfit. It is very bohemian/tribal inspired. The main focus of this outfit is obviously the trousers, so it is important to leave the rest of the outfit neutral if you do not want to go over board. The jumper gives the outfit a laid back look but very edgy and stylish at the same time, with the gold accessories and chunky heel. To make the outfit a bit more vibrant and 'spring-y' looking, rather than just neutral from head to toe, I suggest adding just a very bright colour to your handbag, shoes, or accessories. I think with just a touch of that neon yellow, the outfit turned out looking from dull to bright! 

Toning down Leopard print by katia featuring stone jewelry

Since leopard print colours are very dark and bold, it might not fit well with the rest of the spring colours in our wardrobe. So I would opt for a more faded or slightly pale coloured leopard print. This way, it is easier to add any kind of colour to make your outfit pop. The shorts in this set, are a lighter shade than the normal leoprad print we know and the mint blouse goes perfect with it. You can add pretty much any vibrant colour to these shorts, just as long as you keep the rest of the outfit as neutral as possible. You can do this not just by adding shorts, but also a blazer, shoes or even a scarf. 

Snake Skin Print and Neutrals by katia featuring enamel rings

This my second favourite outfit. I think this looks very chic and sophisticated, and the snake skin print is only incorporated in the accessories, but still remains the main focus of the outfit. I styled this outfit by sticking to the colour palette of the shoes. Mixing white, grey and nude and adding the snake skin print is a very crisp and clean look to this outfit. The gold touches bring out the elegance and they make you look like you're worth a million bucks! 

So don't be afraid of mixing animal prints this spring or summer. I for one, already dived into leopard print, now I need to incorporate more snake print in my wardrobe, or at least in my shoe closet. If you know how to style them then you have nothing to worry about. The secret is that you have one item that is printed the  rest keeping it neutral or adding a pop of colour and you are good to go! 

Hope you found this informative , 

Stay chic xxx